A Productive Day

It took me six hours to do my laundry. I'm just not paying attention. Instead, I've been musing on the route to take to get to Houston. All sorts of options, really. That means that there isn't a good way to go, just a lot of not-so-direct ones. It's like flying somewhere that will require two layovers, and you're not even leaving the country. (Or, even worse, the second layover is in Toronto, but then you head back across the border.) It looks like I'll go through Spanish Fork Canyon (a beautiful drive, but no radio reception--good thing I've got a working CD player this time), through Moab and Monticello, then to Cortez in SW Colorado, and it's off to the Res. (or are those of us that are not from the Four Corners allowed to call it that? I'll have to check on that one), passing through Shiprock, and eventually reaching Gallup. From there, I've got plenty of interstate 40, the soulless replacement to route 66. And I'll be moving pretty fast, just like all the poor sods in Cars, ignoring the natural beauty of New Mexico. Through Albuquerque, then to Amarillo, where I'll switch to 287, which cuts ESE to Dallas, then the 45 SSE to Houston. Sounds good, don't it?

I got some important Civilization IV time in. The Arabs need me. They can't prosper without my guidance, and I've been away too long. I'm sorry, little digital Saladin. With five opponents, I've founded Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Confucianism, and Taoism. I'm about to get Christianity, and probably will get Islam as well. For those of you keeping count, that's all seven religions. None have been or will be founded in a foreign land. Yeah. I'm awesome. My economy has recovered from building so nine outlying cities, and most of them are growing quite rapidly. (The two that aren't give me access to gems and fish, so that's worth it. Now, I'm churning out Great Leaders regularly, I'm ahead technologically, have iron and horses, and I'll be surprised if there are two more wonders that aren't built by my people. All I need to do now is wait for knights, then wipe out the Germans. I could probably even convince the Romans to help. If I can get that done before meeting the other three civilizations, then my advantage will go from clear-cut to "start the next game on a higher difficulty level." And before any of you mention it, yes, I am sad for those that have not had Civilization in their lives. (And if you're not familiar with it, look up Tolkien Boy's blog. It's the funniest one I've read, and definitely worth a read, whether you know him or not.)